Welcome to my Passerine Dream. The name, musical creations, photos, text, content and ideas are my mine. My name is Dave Tanner, and I’ve been a musician for most of my adult life. From a small town in Ontario, Canada, I moved to Missouri to pursue a University education. I obtained a Communication degree (journalism emphasis) from Truman State University, and worked for various newspapers, media outlets and magazines as a writer and editor before I became a full-time musician and performer in 2015.

My main gig is playing “Paul” in Liverpool Legends: The Complete Beatles Experience, a group that was put together by Louise Harrison, sister of the late George Harrison of The Beatles. Louise is now gone, having passed at the age of 91 in January 2023, but her life and legacy are celebrated at every show we play.

I’ve always made some kind of original music along the way, prior to and coinciding with my career as a cast member in a traveling tribute show.

I think I’ve played on at least 13 albums as a bass player and sometimes singer, but it wasn’t until the Covid shutdown of 2020 that I made a full-hearted attempt to produce and release a full-length album of my own stuff.

On my solo debut, titled “Passerine Dream,” I recorded most of my parts at home from summer of 2020 through April of 2021. I used a Scarlet Focusrite interface and used the free version of ProTools that came with it to track my parts. I played bass, acoustic guitars, electric guitars and keyboards while writing lyrics and learning to compose and stack vocals on my own. Of course I had help and I called upon some friends to contribute parts in their areas of expertise.

Writing, recording and mixing became my daily routine at a time that I really needed something positive upon which to focus. I tried really hard not to dwell on the negativity of the times, and, other than drinking a lot during those months at home, I managed to actually get some meaningful work done.

Thank you to Marty Scott, John Perrin, Erik Voeks, Albert Bickley, John Countryman, Steve Davis and Bob Dobro for contributiong certain parts for certain songs.

Once tracking was done, I took the files to Massive Sound Studios in Shawnee, Kansas, for a proper mix by Paul Malinowski.

I released “Passerine Dream” in digital format on May 3, 2021.

CDs and vinyl followed and are available in the Shop section of this site. Cash orders may also be arranged through my P.O. box:

Dave Tanner, C/O Passerine Dream, P.O. Box 12131, Parkville, MO 64152.

I’m letting Bandcamp handle the downloads (WAVs, MP3s, etc.). Click on sound files above to go to the Bandcamp site.

We’ve gotten some radio play in Kansas City as well as outward and as far as the U.K.

The song “Hometown” which features John Perrin (NRBQ) on drums and power-pop guru Erik Voeks on backing vocals, made it to No. 18 on 90.9 The Bridge’s top songs of 2021 as voted on by the listeners of that station. I’m grateful to Michelle B. and Chris H. for helping me get my music heard on The Bridge. I also thank Barry Lee, Mark Manning, Michael Byars, Robert Moore, Kimberly Pool, Graham Lavender and perhaps a dozen more who have spun the record, promoted it, reviewed it or have encouraged it in a valuable way.

I have played a few acoustic/solo shows to date that showcase the songs of Passerine Dream, but as of early 2024, there were still no plans for a live-band show.

Thank you for your support.

—Dave Tanner